Startup uses deep learning to let you shop for items by snapping photos

Startup uses deep learning to let you shop for items by snapping photos

Computer vision and image recognition, aka the ability to show a computer a picture of something and have it tell you what it is seeing, has been befuddling researchers for years.In the past decade, however, it has taken enormous leaps forward thanks to deep learning neural networks. These are essentially vast computational approximations of the way that the human brain works, which can learn to recognize objects and people based on training examples. A number of companies have attempted to use this kind of technology to transform the retail space, but so far none have really succeeded. We scan QR codes when we go into a store, or type the name of a book into Amazon, but the technology that lets us snap a quick picture of, say, a chair…